"Ferretpaw, wait!"
I whirled around, seeing Littlepaw sprinting towards me with wide amber eyes. I stared toward the exit to camp, trying to keep my gaze blank and steely. Not even looking at my friend, I meowed.
"Sorry, I don't have time to talk."
It wasn't that I didn't have time, but more so that I wasn't allowed to talk to my friends. If I didn't do what Dewocean said, I risked getting punished, or worse, having one of my friends get punished instead of me.
Before Littlepaw could come after me, I sprinted towards the forest in the distance, letting oaks and spruces distance myself from the pale brown she-cat. In the distance, I thought I heard Ripplepaw's voice murmuring quietly in her ear, but I pressed on, relentless.
I had a mission. Today, Dewocean told me I had to raid CaveClan territory. She was searching for something, but what it was, I wasn't entirely sure. Each night, before she went to sleep, she was always meowing something about the powers of CaveClan and how they had stolen something from ShoreClan.
Just go to the caves, I repeated Dewocean's command in my mind. Don't think about what you're doing. Go to the medicine den and find a...friend I made. He'll tell you how to do the rest.
So that was my mission. All I had to do was get into CaveClan. I'd been training for battle, so attacking the warriors wouldn't be too much of a trouble. Part of me wished that Littlepaw could come too, since she was so good at sneaking, but then I thought of the time I had attacked Flowerpaw. I hadn't truly talked to her since.
As I padded through the forest, aware that this was one of the first times I'd been out of camp since the whole gathering incident, I let myself taste the air for freshkill. Instead of scenting prey, though, I scented another thing. A cat. A cat without ShoreClan scent.
Instantly I dropped all that I was doing, and narrowed my eyes. Dewocean had decided that any cat found on ShoreClan's territory was something they could use. Basically, I either had to drive off the cat, kill it, or drag it back to camp.
Dewocean recommended I just kill it. She said it would help me become a better fighter.
But I...I hadn't actually ever wanted to hurt another cat. What if this cat was someone like Littlerpaw? Then, I forced myself to root my paws into the damp, muddy earth. No cat on ShoreClan territory was innocent. If I told Dewocean that I'd killed a cat, she might let everything go back to normal. Then, I could have my best friend back.
Either way, I was feeling pretty angry with myself, and I knew that this would be one way to expend my pent up fury.
I picked my way around so that bushes surrounded me on either side. I growled under my breath as a few leaves, wet with some sort of sap, got stuck in my fur. Silent as a predator, I zeroed in on the scent trail, following it several more tail lengths. For a heartbeat, I worried that the rogue creature had made its way into CaveClan land, but then I heard a voice.
"Oh come on, Puddle! This is where she said they would be. Maybe they can help Whisper out. I've never seen anything like it...She keeps muttering about the ocean..."
"It certainly ain't natural," another voice, likely Puddle meowed with a deeper voice. In spite of the baritone sound, the speaker sounded young, almost friendly. "But yeah...at least we know some stuff about herbs from Whisper. And she said something about this clan..." the voice trailed away uneasily.
"Little oughta help!" The other cat pipped up. "I'm pretty sure she and that other cat live there now! I talked to her once after, and she said they have a healer cat, and fighty cats and a leader cat. Imagine! Having all that power."
"Whisper sort of leads us, Bubble," Puddle meowed slowly.
Now, I could see the two cats coming into view. Puddle was a muscular grey and white patched tom with nervous yellow eyes, and the other cat was a small dark grey tom with a bright smile. Something about them was oddly...familiar, almost as though I'd seen them before. I narrowed my eyes, trying to remember.
"Yeah!" Bubble conceded in his high-pitched voice. "But...well, you know. She doesn't want to lead us. It's sort of weird, you know? If I was a wise dark-grey she-cat like her, I would totally act as a guider."
I swished my tail along the undergrowth, irritably. Instantly, Puddle tensed, flicking his round pale grey ears up. I remained silent, but the tom, obviously very jumpy, began to look uneasy.
"Did you hear that?" he meowed softly, glancing down at Bubble as though the bright eyed dark grey tom could offer him some comfort.
"No..." Bubble meowed slowly. "But if there is someone around...HEY!" He began to yowl in a shrill voice. "Any cat around?! We need help! THANKS!"
"No, no, no!" Puddle's fur bushed up in alarm. "What if there's an enemy?!"
Bubble was clearly about to open his jaws to say that there was no such thing as an enemy, but in that exact moment, I decided it was my time to strike. I'd studied these cats. Puddle had a weak shoulder that he limped on, and Bubble wasn't a threat at all. The little dark grey tom was weak, naive, and likely a complete mouse brain. I leaped out of the undergrowth, lunging for Puddle's right shoulder, then feinted and attacked his left, the weaker one.
"What are you doing here?" I snarled, baring my fangs at Puddle.
Then something bowled me over from behind, and I realised I'd just made a terrible mistake.
"You don't touch him!" Bubble yowled, the small dark grey tom pinning me with the same agility and accuracy that I'd used many times over. I wondered where he'd learned those moves.
Then, something even stranger happened.
The dark grey tom's eyes glowed, as all ShoreClan cats' eyes did when they used their powers, and bubbles began to shoot out of his nose. They didn't exactly hit hard, but they confused me enough for Bubble to get a firmer grip on me.
"Wait, stop!" Puddle yowled, obviously in panic. "I recognise her! She's the cat who was with Littlepaw. The cat we gave the herbs to!"
Bubble glanced up at him, and grinned. "Yeah!" He agreed, the last of the bubbles coming out of his nose playfully streaming towards Puddle. "Don't worry! I wasn't gonna hurt her, but she needed a bubble bath! She was super ultra dirty."
"Yeah?" I retorted bitterly, suddenly finding my voice once more. "It's not as though I like it! Try having a dictator treat you like their pet, and you'll soon find that 'cleanliness' isn't exactly your highest priority."
Bubble's eyes suddenly widened. Puddle took a step back, the grey and white tom flicking his tail uncertainly at Bubble. For a moment, neither of them spoke, then Puddle meowed softly.
"What?"
I leaped to my paws, shaking the scraps of dried moss off my pelt. For a heartbeat, I glanced around uneasily, wondering if some ShoreClan cat had seen me call Dewocean a dictator. She's not, a voice in my mind murmured soothingly. She's the only cat who cares for me, because I'm a monster. Not even my friends care anymore...
I didn't know what was true or not. All that I knew was that I needed to sneak onto CaveClan territory, find the source of their earthly powers, and then somehow steal it and bring it back to Dewocean. After that, perhaps she would treat me better, and I could be her personal bodyguard. It wasn't the life I'd expected, but at least I'd still be able to make sure Littlepaw was safe...even if she hated me for all I had done and was going to do.
"Ummm."
I glanced up, suddenly realising that I had company. Puddle was staring down me with nervous yellow eyes. Foxdung! I took a step backing, wincing a little as a bramble plant snagged on my pelt right where one of Dewocean's little scratches was.
"What do you want?" I meowed sharply. Then, I reflected that perhaps I owed these cats for saving my life. Nope! Dewocean's voice in my head retorted just as quickly. I'm all you have, darling. Everyone else...they want monsters like you dead.
"We're going to help you!" Bubble announced cheerfully. "I think you're on a spy mission, and I'm totally good at spy thingies. Too bad Misty and Whisper aren't here, though," he added. "Misty's the best tracker of our gang. And Puddle's great at break-ins because he lived in a boat and knows how to sail."
"Uh," Puddle looked pained. "No, no!" he said quickly as Bubble leaped to his paws and proceeded to take a step in the opposite direction I had actually planned to go. "The boat thing never really gave me any skills." His eyes began to grow misty. "Just after it sank with the twolegs...I had to fend for myself...alone."
Bubble paused, turning and sprinting over to his bigger friend.
The skinny dark grey tom blinked gently. "Sorry," he whispered softly, nuzzling his best friend's drooping ears. Then, he glanced up at me, sad yet fierce. "Look," he meowed. "We need to get help for our friend Whisper." He flexed his paws which were a paler grey in colour. "Say we help you, and you'll help us! Dealio?"
I scowled, shaking my pelt to dislodge the last of the syrup-coated leaves. The warm, humid atmosphere, combined with Bubble's nose-bubbles had allowed for the leaves to come off. Unfortunately, my pelt felt soaked, which agitated me more.
"Look," I muttered through gritted teeth. "If you want to go to camp, then feel free! I'm sure you'll get a real warm welcome," then I narrowed my eyes at Bubble. "How do you have powers?"
Bubble grinned. "ShoreClan ancestry, I guess? Went for a swim a few moons back and came back with the power to give other cats bubble baths."
He said it so calmly that I had to bite back a laugh. But I couldn't smile, not anymore. Never again. Life was too serious for fun, especially my life.
"I'm going now," I meowed fiercely, turning in the direction I had been planning to go.
Perhaps I should have told them that I wanted them to go. But something about Puddle's nervous yet kind eyes and Bubble's relentless optimism was something I couldn't shun away. The young rogues were so...different from my prim clanmates; neither of them had so much as given my a pitying or hostile glance because of my old scars. I expected the two of them to just pad in the direction of ShoreClan camp, but instead, I heard rustling in the undergrowth.
"We'll help you with this," Puddle meowed solemnly from...How did that big rogue get in a tree?! "Just tell us what we need to do."
"We're gonna be awesome super secret spies," Bubble announced in a hushed tone that still managed to sound exuberant.
Here's the thing about my mission; I'm pretty sure I was meant to do it alone. Looking back, I could see that without Puddle and Bubble, it could have been potentially fatal...for the CaveClan cats, not me, I mean.
CaveClan territory wasn't just caves, but that was where the heart of their clan was, and that was where I needed to go.
I slid quietly over dark grey rocks, careful to avoid the sharp cracks which led to shadowy abysses. Sparse pale vegetation peaked out of the rocks in occasional places, but other than that, the landscape was utterly barren. I could see why the CaveClan cats mostly sticked to their caverns as their place to hunt and live. I glanced back in the direction of ShoreClan land, but by now, the coastal landscape and trees were far off in the distance. Instead, all I could see to any degree was Puddle and Bubble.
"Almost there?" Bubble asked brightly as he bounced to catch up with me.
"Yes," I responded flatly, and took to the lead, ending all possible conversations I could have had with the rogue.
My mind was entirely preoccupied on how we were going to manage this plan. Looking back, I think Dewocean would have expected me to have been captured by CaveClan at this point, and taken straight to their home, instead of finding it myself. I guess that's the thing about Dewocean; she sometimes underestimates me.
In truth, it wasn't long before I came across a cave that smelled very strongly of CaveClan (they smell of rock, which does indeed smell bad, and rotten fish, in case you were wondering). Not a very flattering smell, in my opinion, but certainly one that drew my attention.
Puddle and Bubble, who, being rogues, smelled a bit more rank, seemed more taken with the scent than I was, for both of them were muttering excitedly as I picked my way carefully over protruding stalactites. Then again, perhaps neither of them had experienced the joy of spending an entire night in caves...
I winced visibly when I thought about it, and tried to push on.
"Yo-your paw stubbed something?" Puddle meowed nervously from somewhere behind me. "I-I'm pretty good with herbs, and stuff I you need help....I was the one who put the aloe on and wrapped your burns, if you were wondering."
I gritted my teeth. "I'm fine," I growled, accidentally hitting a rock with my paw, which sent in tumbling down, down, down. Then, I added to Puddle, "I'm not hurt it was just...memories."
"Ah," Puddle echoed softly as we continued more carefully through the darkness. "I understand, Ferretpaw."
As we descended into the cave, I found myself entering a confusing series of caverns, which were made all the more difficult to navigate in the darkness. Thankfully, Puddle was good with memory, and more than once, he made us backtrack. The first time, because the tunnel got too small, the second time, because were heard a cat humming a tune, and didn't want any encounters.
It was strange, having to rely on another cat, I mean. I relied on Dewocean, but I tended to be more of a loner in ShoreClan. After all, I had a feeling that all the cats were just pretending to deal with me.
Now, as we turned and I found myself in a cave lit up by lichen, my paws were sore and I winced with each step. Thankfully, though, I could smell CaveClan, and knew we were getting close.
Then, we took a sharp turn, and I found myself face to face with a rust-coloured CaveClan she-cat.
I tried not to recoil as her scent hit me, and the sour tang of herbs bathed my muzzle. I couldn't take my gaze away from her, though. She has a long, slim frame, and one of her ears was completely missing. Her entire form was ragged and scrawny. She looked older than the world itself, yet she held herself with such composure and fury, that the ancient cat made me shiver. Her yellow eyes blazed with a sort of fury as she saw met my gaze. Determinedly, I lifted my chin.
"You're here for Dewocean, are you not?" The russet medicine cat growled. "You want to take the Shimmersalt. Well," she sniffed. "I suppose you could...just so long as you do something for me. Make sure this last thing I do counts, for I am going to join the Dark Forest very soon. I can feel it. That's my curse."
"You're cursed?" Puddle echoed in bewilderment.
The russet cat smiled coldly. "Well, not exactly," she muttered. "You know I was doing the clan a service, feeding deathberries to all the kits my sister had. Five! The clan would have been to big for that." She yawned. "The Shimmersalt removed my old gift, and gave me one where I would know when and how every cat around me died."
"How did you change powers?" I snarled, narrowing my eyes.
"Oh, what a joy!" The CaveClan cat grinned coldly down at me, glowing lichen illuminating her hideous glare. "Dewocean never told you the legend, the reason our powers came to be. I guess I'm the last cat alive with that memory...in my time we decided to stop telling the tale, but I figure you guys ought to know."
I stared at her. "What?" I echoed. "They just have always been there, have they not?" I realised I was buying for time, trying to figure out what my next move needed to be.
"No," the russet cat laughed. "Long before the clans, when the world was just beginning, the island we call home was populated by massive, fierce cats. They took us regular-sized felines as their feral slaves, making us hunt and fight for them, and their honour."
I glanced back at Bubble, who looked disbelieving.
"So," the cat continued. "The big cats grew lazy, while we grew smart, and clever. During this time, there were four cats who rose to fame, Salt, Ocean, Moor and Night. They rallied together the cats from all the parts of the island, and tried to drive out the felines."
"The first attempt failed, and many died. But together, the dead and the living merged a sort of pact that all the cats of the island would use to come to victory. They received powers. The powers came from four artifacts, and were named for the four greatest heroes, and gave the cats of each region powers to help drive the big cats out. Shimmersalt for cave cats, Shimmerocean for ocean cats, Shimmermoor for glade cats, and Shimmernight for the cats of darkness."
"In the end, we were able to drive out the big cats, and we decided to create unions, so that cats would never be alone again. Unfortunately, Night loathed this idea of unity, saying that's how the big cats got their power. He died, along with his power, and somehow, the dark forest was made. The rest came with time, as the clans developed."
Then, she gestured at me to follow her.
"Your time comes soon," she meowed, and with a shiver, I wondered if she meant my time to steal a legendary artifact, or...my death.